Michael Cheika a coach in demand after Rugby World Cup success with Argentina
Rugby Australia will have to join a long queue if it wants Michael Cheika to take on the Wallabies job after his World Cup success with Argentina. But, would he even be interested in replacing Eddie Jones?
If Rugby Australia ever wants to replace Eddie Jones with Michael Cheika, they may have to bide their time because he’s in such high demand at the moment and not even looking for a new job after his stunning Rugby World Cup success with Argentina.
After leading the Pumas to the semi-finals of rugby’s showcase tournament just a year after steering Lebanon to the quarter-finals of Rugby League World Cup, Cheika should be right at the top of RA’s lost of potential candidates to take over from Jones, who is in currently in London already starting his negotiations for an early release from his five-year contract after overseeing the Wallabies disastrous World Cup campaign.
Sources have confirmed reports RA received a letter from Jones’ lawyers wanting to open discussion about a cordial exit because the situation had become so toxic.
But Cheika, the last man to take the Wallabies to the World Cup final (2015), isn’t even thinking about the possibility of returning to the job, batting away any suggestion by gushing about how much he enjoyed working for the Pumas.
“My conversations are with Argentina,” he said.
“That’s where I am.
“I’ve really loved what I’ve done here and what’s happened for me here.
“I’ve learnt a lot and all my intention and desire is to help them get better and break into the top tier of footy because we’re still in that middle tier and we’ve got to try and work out how we can get up there.”
Cheika’s contract with Argentina ended after the Pumas defied expectations to finish fourth at the World Cup, losing 26-23 to England in Saturday morning’s bronze medal playoff at the Stade de France.
Cheika has been in the role for two years and been helping groom Felipe Contepomi to take over as head coach but said he would do whatever was in the best interests of the Pumas.
“I have a very good relationship with everybody. When I arrived in 2022 it was clear we were going for two years, for the World Cup. Contepomi is not far off,” Cheika said.
“He is getting good results and that has always been part of the conversation. We will decide now what is best for the Pumas in the future.
“Will I continue? We’ll see. Maybe we need a change, take another step with Felipe, but that is not important. I want this team to win, to have success. They took with them a piece of my heart.”
One of the hottest coaches in either rugby code, Cheika said he had no intention of rushing into a decision about his future, saying his immediate plans were to take his family on holiday to New York before flying back to Argentina for a debrief to start planning for the 2027 World Cup.
It’s no surprise Cheika’s name has come up as a possible successor to Jones because he has a phenomenal track record in coaching – but he’s also been there before and has the scars to prove it.
Despite being named world coach of the year in 2015, Cheika’s last stint as Wallabies coach ended in tears when they were bundled out in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup and he fell out publicly with then chief executive Raelene Castle.
Way too smart to get caught up in the blame game that has currently erupted over the Wallabies, Cheika said he was a better coach now for all the varied experiences and his own way of dealing with pressure and criticism.
“For me personally, no one’s assessing me more than me,” he said.
“That’s why I found it quite comfortable to be in that heat when it came to me because no one’s really asked me a question that I wouldn’t have asked myself.”
Cheika has spent the past two years living in Paris but hasn’t ruled out moving back to Sydney.
He said the decision would not be related to a job offer.
Instead, he said the verdict on where the family will live will be left to his wife and their kids after they had sacrificed so much for his career.
With the next Rugby World Cup taking place in Australia, there’s already speculation that whoever replaces Jones might only be there for the short term because the job is so stressful and has a high turnover.
Again, Cheika refused to comment on the Australian coaching situation though it is already known he privately reached out to Jones to check he was OK.
While Jones has accepted full responsibility for the Australian team’s poor performance at this World Cup, the vicious pile-on against him has annoyed a lot of the game’s traditionalists who think it has gone way beyond the pale and is against the ethos of the sport.
An abrasive character at the best of times, Jones may be an easy scapegoat but everyone pulling out their pitchforks and torches are as much a part of the problem as anyone.
Pointing the finger at Jones for the mess Australian rugby finds itself in is not only wrong but also divisive because the real culprits are the woke administrators who failed to address the game’s escalating problems over the past two decades.
Although his plans backfired spectacularly, Jones was right to reintroduce a tough-love approach to the national team and axe older players who had countless chances to turn the Wallabies around but never did.
And although they are copping it from everyone for reappointing Jones less than a year before the World Cup, RA was also right to get rid of Cheika’s ineffective successor Dave Rennie, who achieved zilch in his three years in the job.
Plenty of problems remain unsolved but cooler heads want an end to the hysterics and a refocus on solutions.
“I’m not a person who can talk about any other coach of another team,” Cheika said.
“What I will say is the key to any successful business or any successful team, no matter what it is, is good people who treat their people right.
“No matter what the system is, I think people are the key and good people will usually get good results or there will be a good vibe inside.
“I’m far away from it now. I’m with a different team so I certainly don’t have the right to even say anything about it.”
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